Woman accused of whacking deputy's nose with purse

[April 09, 2009]  MOHAVE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- Sheriff's officials said a deputy plans to be back on duty Wednesday after a woman she was trying to arrest broke her nose with her purse.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said the purse the 48-year-old woman swung Tuesday evening contained a large bottle of perfume and weighed more than three pounds.

Carter said Deputy Cori Merryman managed to handcuff the woman and put her in her patrol car before backup officers arrived, even though she had a bloodied nose that turned out to be fractured.

The suspect was trying to prevent a friend's car from being impounded and had refused Merryman's orders to move out of the way of a tow truck.

The woman was jailed on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

[Associated Press]

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